EnterTheLexicon at The Maze, Nottingham

After the release of their most recent single, Full Moon, earlier this year, EnterTheLexicon took to the road among a rather mixed up lineup. The single, taken off their EP, released last June was notably (and bizarrely) missing from the set, but with the mood of the night and the somewhat outlier that the track is, it’s forgivable. Before they went on stage, we had chance to chat with the band about their upcoming work and the tour, which will be online in the next few days.

The Nirvana-esque hints that were clear in the self-titled EP were even more present in the live show, thick vocals coating the tracks with the old-grunge sound everyone knows so well. Despite a few moments where the music wasn’t totally up to studio standard (more the fault of the sound balance than the band), there was little to fault in the show. Think vocals that reverberated like bass, bass that flavoured the sound and guitar and percussion to drive the music with relentless, understated force.

Laid back and confident, the band weren’t one to brag about the excellence of their music, but the tight set was one to be admired. They showed their gratitude by totally absorbing themselves in the music and focusing entirely on it, linking songs with feedback solos and take-to-the-knees immense riffs. Whilst it wasn’t the most active of performances, they truly threw themselves into the music with enthusiasm busting out the seams.

There’s no better way to describe them as distinctly Nirvana-esque with a lighter edge creeping into the solos and hooks, with “why d’ya it up, why d’ya give it away?” deserving being blasted across a venue much bigger than the one EnterTheLexicon were presented with. This is one of those shows that impossible to not recommend – there aren’t words to sum up the driven undercurrents and straight up force of EnterTheLexicon’s performance, it’s just one of those you have to see live.